Remember Me
by LovelyBullet
Summary: Young Cheryl Yoast is beginning her high school career at T.C. Williams in 1971, the year of integration. Can she survive as a freshmen in this chaos?
1. Chapter 1

**A.N. **Hey everyone! So I'm on spring break right now, and I decided I should write a bit. I decided on a short Remember the Titans fanfic since it's one of my favorite movies even though I barely understand football. Now, I don't think it ever really mentions what grades all of the guys are in, but it does say Petey is a Junior, so for all intensive purposes, all of the guys will be in their Junior year unless said otherwise. Also, I'm mixing it up a bit and Sheryl and Nicky are going to be older, as in Freshmen, and little Karen is going to be somewhere in middle school. Hope you like it.

"WHAT ARE THEY DOING! If they keep playing like that we're gonna lose every game!" I heard myself yell, more to express my frustration than anything else.

"Aw, I didn't think it was that bad." Coach tried to reason with me, but he didn't try too hard since we both knew it was useless.

Coach and I went way back, he was my dad after all. He put everything he had into the game of football that it drove my mom to leave him, but I had no choice, I stayed with Coach. After all, he needed me, how else would he survive.

"And shouldn't you be home, I'm pretty sure all your summer work isn't finished for the start of the school year." I just rolled my eyes. Football triumphed over school work any day of the week.

Alan came running down the stairs to the fence that separated the old train station from the grassy field my dad was coaching his returning Titans on. "Guys! It's coming down at the store!" That's all they needed to hear and the team was off, running full speed towards the store in question, Gary, the big brother I never had, in the lead.

Coach ran off towards his truck, with the sole purpose of stopping them. I followed him and hopped in the bed as he was pulling away.

Now, being raised by a man had its advantages. One of these advantages was not too much scared you. If I hadn't been raised solely by coach, the sight that greated me at the store would've had me sniveling in my place on the bed, but since that wasn't the case, I was able to take it all in.

Blacks and whites segregated on separate sides of the entrance to the store, only being restrained by the police and their nightsticks. The owner of the store could be seen through the window, loading his shotgun, but he was stopped by another police officer; right before a crate crashed through the window.

At that precise moment my daddy cut our boys off, just before they reached the ranks of rioters. Gary, Alan and Ray looked at my father with a look of loathing before jumping in the bed of the truck with me. I knew better than to talk to the guys when their testosterone levels were that high, after all, they were each easily twice my size.

When we returned to Coach's office, there was a tall man standing behind his desk, clutching a football, dressed in a suit. He was black and here to coach, little did I know that he would be taking my daddy's spot.

I didn't know of the treachery until the next afternoon, when some official looking man came to our house. He cut right to the chase, telling us that the school board was giving that Boone my daddy's job since "every head coach in the system is white, we had to give him something." I just started yelling, I didn't know what else to do. I didn't know what I was saying, I just knew that I was angry, and this man was my scapegoat. I stomped off into the field, but not before kicking the man.

I ran around kicking at some tall grass, but that didn't satisfy me. So I started walking. I knew the way well, I had walked it several times in my life, sometimes with my dad and sometimes without him. The point is, I knew the way to the little Pee Wee field well.

This was my sanctuary. It represented a simpler time, when a girl could be a tomboy and not be accused of being unfeminine. When a girl could hang out with all the guys and not have her intentions questioned.

I wasn't at the field long, snapping long passes to no one, before I head a familiar voice, "Not bad curls, but it could be better."

I turned around to see Ray. Ray and I grew up together, along with the rest of my daddy's boys. Ray was two years older than me, and while we grew up together, we never really had that brother sister relationship that I had with all the other guys.

"Let me show you how it's done." With that, he picked up a football and threw it. Far. Farther than I ever could.

"Psh. I've seen better." I said, not giving in to his obvious superiority. After all, he was twice my size so obviously he would through farther.

"Ignoring that... " He said, rolling his eyes. "Let me help you. Take your stance." I did. "See that's your problem; standing like this will prevent you from using your full body weight to your advantage." He hesitated before speaking again. "Try it like this." He came right up behind me. He slid my feet one at a time with his own. Placing his hands on my hips he rotated me slightly, then he reached around my body, covering my hands with his much larger ones, "Try holding it like this." He moved my hands, "And now we go like this." And with that he moved, pulling me with him.

I don't know how it happened, maybe I moved to much or he didn't take my weight into account, but we ended up falling, him on top of me. But before I felt his weight on my back, I heard a grunt and to thuds near my head. Gotta love football reflexes. He had caught himself before hitting me. I flipped over onto my back so I was facing him.

"That didn't go as planned." He said quietly, giving me a smirk.

"Really? I never would've guessed!" I giggled.

"Come on, time to get up." He stood, pulling me with him. "We better get you back before coach finds out you're gone, after all, I'm guessing you didn't tell him."

"How did you know!"

We walked in silence back towards the old farmhouse Dad and I shared. It wasn't until we got to the door that he spoke again.

"So, are you ready for camp? Should be interesting this year. You might want to steer clear, things might get messy..."

"You aren't getting rid of me that easily. Plus, it's my favorite time of year. I get to watch you guys get your asses handed to you." I giggled.

"Hardy har har." He joked. "Now get inside, it's getting late, coach must be wondering where you are."

"I hadn't even noticed. See ya Ray!" I watched him walk away, back the way we came.

"Oh, and curls. At camp, the first night. Meet me in the foyer in front of the dinning hall." He turned, calling back.

"If I have nothing better to do." I called back, before going inside.


	2. Chapter 2

"Herman!" Mom called to dad after seeing the sight on our front lawn. He came inside from the back porch with Dr. Davis, "Herman, I think you might want to look outside."

Daddy eased the door open, allowing only enough space for him to see out before stepping out. The noise I had heard was not what I had expected. Cheers of approval rather than of hate. Clapping instead of hate.

I looked out the front window and saw tens, maybe hundreds of black people, and many of young boys: football players.

Words were exchanged and my mother and I watched as his supporters encircled our father.

* * *

><p>There was a knocking on the door. I set down the figurine I had been examining and opened the door. The man standing before me summoned all of the hatred Ray had helped me suppress back to me. "What do you want?"<p>

"Is Coach Yoast here?" He asked.

"We're busy. Interviewing for head coaching jobs. Gotten eleven offers and certainly no time for _you_." I started to close the door, smirking to myself. Then the door caught. First I looked down, making sure it wasn't my foot that had ruined my dramatic exit. It wasn't; it was the other pair of feet. I looked up, sending a glare at my father before storming away to my room.

I tried ease dropping on them, but there was too great of a risk of getting caught, so I retreated into my room once more.

I was seeing red. The world had a red tinge to it. My blue walls were purple and the white wood floor was red. I walked to me bed and reached for the phone Coach had just installed in my room. I dialed the number I knew by heart: Gary.

Gary picked up on the second ring. "Sheryl, I can't talk right now... Emma's here. Can it wait until morning?"

"No." My voice cracking.

The next morning, when the time had come for Coach to tell the boys, there was a tense feeling as we all crowded into Hal's Dinner.

"It's been a rare privilege," My dad started the speech he had been putting together all night, "to have lived here as long as I have, coaching your boys. I'll be taking the year off," they boys and their families expressed their disapproval, but coach plowed through, "After which, I'll be moving to Louden, and taking the head coaching job at Louden High."

It was then that Alan's dad began to make noise. Yelling out that they had to boycott the school. He had quite a following too. Gary stood and expressed his frustration, telling the group that he had started a petition and would sit this season out, but my dad wouldn't allow it. Ray agreed with Gary, then Alan, and then the rest of the team.

Dad couldn't desert these boys. We both knew it, he had helped raise some of, Gary for instance, after his father past, Coach took on the male role model position. And with the schools integrating, this was the year these boys would need the positive role model.

* * *

><p>"So you did remember." The voice came from that shadows of the foyer.<p>

"Of course I did." I said, looking for Ray. The boy emerged from the corner where he had been encased in darkness, "So what are we doing?"

"Come with me." He said, walking through the grand double doors that lead out into the courtyards. He led me past the boundaries of the school into the woods.

"Are we supposed to be out here?" I asked, slowing my pace.

"They didn't say we weren't." Ray flashed me a smirk and grabbed my head, pulling me on.

"Ray... I think we should go back." I said five minutes later, when we were thoroughly encased in trees, "Do you even know where we are going?"

"Ya, we are really close too." Then he paused, "Hear that?"

"What am I supposed to hear?" Then I heard it. Rushing water.

A few steps ahead there was a clearing, in which there was a small waterfall, no taller than my waist. It was like a scene from a fairytale. Moonlight and the flowers, the stream and the grass.

"Was it worth it?" He asked, taking a seat on the rocks, patting the seat beside me.

"Ya. But we should really get back." I said, backing away.

"No. We have time. Come sit."

"No. I'm going back."

"You don't know the way, you'll get lost."

"Too bad. I'll figure it out."

And with that I walked off into the woods. I must have walked for a solid ten minutes, trying to follow the same path back when I heard something behind me. "Ray?" I turned and called, no answer. I started walking again, faster this time. I came to another clearing, I started to walk into it, but I was grabbed from behind. One arm was around my waist; the other had a hand clapped over my mouth.

"Don't panic. And don't make a sound." A voice whispered in my ear. Slowly, the body began to walk backwards, pulling me with it, back into the cover of the trees. This was how I was gonna die: Killed in the woods by some guy. "Don't scream. I'm going to let go." And he let go.

I spun around, throwing a punch where I knew his face was, but he grabbed my wrist. I recognized the face. He was one of the black players. My pulse slowed slightly.

"Sorry to sneak up on you like that, there was a bear on the edge of the clearing. It had its back to you, but if you walked in the clearing, I'm sure it would've seen you." He said, releasing my wrist.

"Who are you?" I asked him, refusing to show weakness, truthfully, I was scared, was there really a bear? If there was, I would've been its midnight snack.

"I'm Julius Cambell," he stated, "I'm rooming with your buddy superman."

"Oh. And you knew I was here because?"

"I was in the bathroom, and when I came out, I saw you and that white kid leaving. Now he's one that I could honestly say, I'd hate regardless of his skin."

"Oh. Well, thanks, I guess." And then there were sounds of a stampede.

We watched as Boone and the other coaches ran by, the team following behind them. "Shit!" Julius whispered. "Think you can keep up, 'cause I can't miss this."

"Please, I'll be running with the coaches." And with that we joined the pack.

* * *

><p>"So, Gary, I heard that you have an admirer." I giggled when Gary walked into his room, Julius trailing behind him.<p>

"So you come in my room, no invitation, no sign, and sit on my bed. I mean really?" Gary joked, coming to sit next to me.

"Dude, is this like, a regular occurrence?" Julius asked, shrugging off his shirt. We both nodded. "Well then, imma go take a shower. You kids have fun now." With that he left the room, towel in hand.

"Ya know, I'd appreciate it if you didn't openly gawk at my roommate, just letting you know." Gary told me, smirking. "So what's up?"

"Well, other than your man kiss, Ray and I kinda went on a date-ish thing..."

"What?" Gary asked incredulous. I quickly explained to him Ray's oasis, Julius's rescue and then the run with the team. "Ray's a dead man. He should never have let you go out there alone, for obvious reason, your lucky Julius was there."

"We're lucky Julius was where?" Julius asked, walking back into the room in his towel.

"She just told me about Ray." Gary said, looking up at his roommate, "Thank you for saving her. She's like my little sister, I don't know what I'd do without her."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that now do you?" Julius walked over to the corner of the room and made himself a makeshift changing stall with his closet door, "Did you tell her the story about sunshine?"

"Trust me, I already heard about that story." I lost it, and started giggling uncontrollably.

"Are all white girls that crazy?" Julius asked once Cheryl had left.

"Nah. Cheryl's special." I responded.

"That's too bad." He was staring at the closed door the object of our conversation had just left though.

"Ya it is. She's like another one of our teammates, she's been around forever, hell, she was on our Pee Wee team."

"You serious?" He asked, eyebrows raised, "She was like two, three years younger than you guys though."

"She's good. And back then, she was bigger than a bunch of us..."

"That's something I'd wanna see..."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Cheryl? Can I, um, can we talk?" Ray asked me, matching my stride.<p>

"You have a minute," I stopped, turning to face him, "Go."

"Cheryl, I am so sorry, I can't express to you how much I mean that. I was so stressed out from all the practices and Coach Coon and all that stuff. I was just... ugh... I shouldn't have done what I did. And I am extremely sorry for that."

"I almost got eaten by a bear." I said, crossing my arms, "You are lucky that Julius was there! If it wasn't for him I'd be dead. Now don't talk to me." And with that I walked on.


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N.** Just letting you guys know, I would _love_ some reviews! ;)

Chaos. Chaos was what greeted me on my first day of high school. Not the regular first day of school, finding of classes and friends, but rioters boycotting bussing. Now I was a freshman, and a small freshman at that, so I was easily lost in the crowd of rebels. I pushed my way through until I finally broke the barrier and stumbled into the less crowded school courtyard, and right into a crowd of big black upperclassmen boys.

"Aw, look at this," One sneered.

"Little freshman wants to hang with the the big boys?"

"Yo. Dyl, leave her alone." A voice came in the group. Julius.

"Have a crush on a little white girl, Cambell?" One of the guys taunted.

"Nah," He shook his head grabbing hold of my arm, "She's my coach's daughter and I think letting her get harassed may result in some extra laps." Without another word he started to cut his way through the crowd until we reached Gary and Emma.

"You look like you just saw a ghost, Cheryl." Gary said throwing an arm around me.

"Well, Bertier, she was kinda... intimidated... by some guys over there." Julius answered for me, "I handled it though."

After that Gary refused to let me out of his sight for the rest of the day, it got so extreme that when he had to use the restroom he made me wait outside with Julius.

"I hope you know those guys aren't always like that." Julius said, leaning against the wall beside me. "They hate change almost as much as..." he trailed off.

"The white guys. Its fine." I assured him. And silence again. What was taking Gary so long?

"So um, where do you and Ray stand?" Julius asked, awkwardly ending the silence.

"We, uh, don't really stand anywhere..." I responded.

"Oh. Cool."

"Ok. Class Time." Gary came out, pulling me off away from Julius.

"Well, that foot ball field out there is our universe. Let's rule it like Titans." Boone took a dramatic pause. "Five minutes before we head out." The coaches moved over to a corner to discuss game strategy.

"Gary!" I shouted running over to the man, jumping onto him, hugging him, "You ready to win! I want you to go out there and kick some..."

"Keep it PG!" Gary laughed, hugging me to him, "Now its time to get down, after all, aren't you supposed to be in the stands?"

"Not before I said good luck!" I jumped down. I went around to each of the guys, giving a couple hugs, a select few, Gary included, pecks on the cheek.

When I got to Ray, things were awkward. I didn't know what to do, so we just sort of nodded to each other before I moved on to Julius.

"Hey." He said quietly.

"Good luck." I reached up on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around his neck. I felt his arms go around my waist, holding me to his padding coated body.

When I finally released him, I had just enough time to run up to my seat next to Alan's dad in the stands before the started. Much to Mr. Bosley's dismay, Alan was getting beat like he stole something, and the man nearly had a heart attack when his son was swapped out for Petey, one of the young black players.

As soon as Petey came in, the tide turned and T.C. Williams began dominating. Petey shut down number twenty three. Gary took out a man, as did Julius. I couldn't believe that the same arms that had saved me from a bear could tackle a man like that. The game ended after Rev scored us a touchdown, effectively winning the game.

I waited for the guys to come out of the locker rooms and then we set off to paint the town. Blue, Rev, Petey, Lois and Sunshine walked ahead of us, basking in the glory that was their first win.

"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault." Gary said, putting his arm around Alan's shoulder, "They like to show off."

"Wait, they? I heard you say they." Julius turned on Gary.

"Ya, they, them over there."

The boys continued to fight until Emma, Ray and their friends pulled up, asking Gary to join them, which he refused.

We didn't even notice the disappearance of three of our friends until Petey was yelling at Sunshine, and then Blue when he tried to defend him. All of the black guys began to follow an angry Petey away, but I grabbed onto Julius's arm. He turned to face me, "Um," I didn't know what to say, "I need to show you something."

"Well, um, ok." He affirmed. "My car is over that way." He gestured across the street.

We crossed the road and he led me over to my side of the car. He opened the door for me and gestured for me to sit before closing the door and walking over to his side of the car.

"So where are we going?" He asked as he pulled out of the parking space.

"Um..." I paused. "Go straight." He did. "See the second light, so not this one but the next? Turn right." I gave him instructions with no real destination, but somehow we ended up at the little Pee Wee field.

"So, you take me from my football game to a midget stadium?" He looked over at me.

"This was my childhood. Let's go." I led him over to the little shed that contained all the gear. I quickly entered the combination on the padlock.

"Are you supposed to know the code?" Julius asked.

"What my daddy doesn't know won't hurt him." I pulled out a single football, ran from the shed and threw it as far as I could.

"That was pretty good." Julius said after he retrieved the ball for me. "Now, try it like this."

He came right up behind me. He slid my feet one at a time with his own. Placing his hands on my hips he rotated me slightly, then he reached around my body, covering my hands with his much larger ones, moving my hands slightly, I felt him tense up, and then guide me through a slow motion version of the throw.

"Now you try." He released me from his grasp. I tried and it went so far.

"Haha! Yes!" I spun around and wrapped my arms around his neck, my momentum causing the two of us to spin around. He picked my up bridal style and continued to spin, and then, all of a sudden, water.

"Oh my god!" I giggled, tucking my head into the crook of his neck, shielding myself from the water. I felt him moving; still holding me until he reached what I guessed was a dry spot and sat down.

"You can open your eyes now." He whispered in my ear. I slowly lifted my head from his neck and met his gaze. I felt our faces slowly growing closer together until our lips were just about to touch when another car pulled up. We pulled away from each other.

"There you are!" It was Gary. "We were looking all over for you! You just disappeared." Gary scolded me for a solid minute, not once did he seem to notice I was partially on Julius's lap.

"I'll drive you home now." Julius said, prompting me to stand before Gary noticed. I followed the cue.

"Fine by me, Coach can flip on you." Gary said to Julius.

"You're joking right?" He asked as he held the door open for me. He looked down at me, "He's joking right?" I nodded.

"See you guys tomorrow." Julius said as he and Gary climbed into their cars and left the Pee Wee field.

The car ride home was quiet, just me giving him instruction on how to reach my house. When we reached the little farm Dad and I called home, he got out and opened the door for me and walked me to the door like a perfect gentleman.

"Well, I'll see you at school." I offered a small smile.

"Ya I guess." I turned to let myself inside. "Oh Cheryl." I turned back to him. One arm wrapped around my waist and the other tilted my chin up. And then our lips met. At first I didn't know what to do, but then I just let instinct take over. I reached my arms up and pulled him in closer. When we finally ended the kiss, he smiled at me, "I'm not one to leave things half finished."


	4. Chapter 4

The next week was uneventful as integrating could be. It wasn't long before I found myself sitting in the bleachers for the second Titans game. The guys were doing horribly. They were playing, but they weren't. Gerry was one you could tell at the first glance. The football god I had come to know was failing. All of the guys were failing. And even with their failure, they still won, don't ask me how, but they did.

The next day the Coach Boone and Nicky arrived at our home in the middle of the day while I was shooting hoops. Coach Boone quickly excused himself to my daddy's office. I passed the ball to Nicky, but she refused, saying she had just done her nails.

"Then what are we gonna do?" I asked her.

"I don't know." She said, letting her eyes stray, "How's high school treating you?"

"Its fine. You?"

"Good. The Titans are doing pretty good, I guess." She offered.

"Ya, only one game in and its obvious we have a strong team." I said.

"And an attractive one..." She mumbled.

"Did you really just say that?" I laughed with her.

"Of course! Have you seen them?" She giggled, "I mean Rev and Petey are hot, and so is that Ray, but he's a racist ass, and Ronnie...too bad he's not into us... you know about what happened with him and Gary right? And Gary! He's not too bad either."

"Gary, dear, is off limits. The kid is like my big brother. And I don't think Ronnie actually swings that way..."

"Then it looks like Julius will have to settle..."

"He's off limits too."

"I knew it! What's going on between you two? I see you guys talking in the hallways. Do you see the looks he gives you?" She went on and on, almost like I do with football, "So what's up between you two?"

"Honestly, I don't know." Was all I could muster. After all, he hadn't talked to me since that day he dropped me off.

"Nicky." The men had emerged from my father's office, "It's time to leave if you want to get to your friend's house in time."

"We will finish this conversation later." Nicky looked at me before jumping in the car with her dad and driving off.

"What conversation?" My dad asked, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"Teenaged stuff." I shrugged.

"Oh." This was one of the disadvantages of growing up with only a dad, they don't know how to deal with teenage girl stuff.

The next day at school, I got a black eye. I was minding my own business walking through the hallway when I overheard Petey saying to some big white guy "I don't see any livestock around here, so I don't know what you're talking about." He was then attacked.

Now, this is where I stopped minding my own business, I ran off down the hallway, trying to find Gary or Julius or some big buff football guy. I found Ray first, but I figured he wouldn't do anything, so I ran on, right into Gary, and he went running; me at his heals. Gary ran right up to the group of guys that had Petey held against a locker, but was ripped off of them by a new group of black guys, they shoved him against the lockers on the other side.

Then Julius was there, ripping guys off of Gary. Me being me, ended up getting a foot to the face as Julius spun a guy around, up in the air. I fell to the ground, then I was gone.

Slowly, it was all coming back to me: the pain in my nose, the sensation of falling and the pain in my head, then it all became blurry. I remembered being carried and then nothing again until now. I slowly opened my eyes, taking in the white room and the white bed under me.

"You're up. Nurse, she's up." A voice called. I glanced around the room and my eyes came to rest on the bluish green chair in the corner. Julius.

The nurse came bustling in, "Do you remember what happened?"

"Not really. I remember a fight and getting hit and falling and a pain in my head and then nothing really."

"Well, you seem fine. A small concussion, if anything. To be honest, I don't really know why you blacked out..."

"Nurse, we need you in the other room." Another nurse called, sticking her head in the door.

"Stomach flu." She stated, "Well, your dad should be here soon, your friend went to get him. Will you be ok here?" She shot a distrustful glance at Julius.

"I will be just fine thank you." I said coldly.

She left and I looked at Julius, but he refused to meet my gaze. "Julius? Are you ok?"

"Ya. I'm fine." He said, looking at me for a minute before turning away.

"Julius?" He raised an eyebrow, "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" He asked, looking at me incredulously. I shook my head, "I made that guy kick you in the face! How do you not remember that? I didn't see you and I just lifted him up and... I'm so sorry." He buried his face in his hands.

"Julius, come over here." I said. He remained motionless, "Don't make me get up." I said.

This made him stand and walk to the side of my bed. I patted the empty spot beside me, but he refused to sit. I reached my hand out and grasped onto his hand that was hanging at his side. He allowed for me to hold on, but he didn't return the action.

"I know you didn't mean it." I stroked the back of his hand with my thumb, "You were trying to protect Gary and Petey. I shouldnt have been so close." He still refused to meet my gaze, "Come on Julius, please?"

"Where is she?" I heard my daddy's urgent voice.

"In through there Coach Yoast."

Julius pulled his hand out of my grasp and leaned against the wall. My father came striding in, Gary at his heals.

"Sweetheart, are you ok?" Daddy asked, stroking my hair.

"I'm fine, Daddy."

"Gosh, honey, that's quite a shiner you got there." Daddy joked.

"Nothing make up can't fix." Gary said quickly, flashing a look at Julius who had turned away.

"Coach, can you come out here for a minute, we need you to sign something." My dad kissed me on the cheek and then left.

"Julius, I don't get it. You tackle guys as a sport. I bet a bunch of them get black eyes or bruises or something, but that doesn't faze you. So why does this?" I asked, getting worked up.

"'Cause I don't care about them!" He yelled, "They don't matter! When I saw you on the ground I..." He glanced at Gary, "I... I gotta go." He walked out of the room.

I called after him, but he never came back.

"You know, he stopped because of you." I grumbled to my brother.

"So what's up between you two?" Gary asked sitting on the foot of my bed and ignoring my accusation.

"You are just as bad as Nicky," the girl had ambushed me after first period today, "Well, I told you about my date with Ray, and then he saved me on that first day and we went to the Pee Wee field and he kissed me and then this and..."

"Wait, what?" Gary asked, face frozen.

"Well, he's really upset that I got hurt..."

"Before that."

"We went to the Pee Wee field?"

"You know which one I'm talking about." He was getting impatient, "You two kissed?"

"Well, um..." I didn't know what to say to the over bearing big brother staring at me.

"Yes or no question."

"Yes."

"Do I need to kill him or just hurt him?"

"Neither. You will not touch him. Unless you want to force him to get over the black eye thing." I sighed. "And don't tell my dad. I don't think anything is really gonna happen, so it'd be pointless."

"If that's what you want."

"Hey man." I called to my brother.

"Hey, superman!" He went to high five me, but I refused, "What's up?"

"Can we talk over there?" I gestured to the corner, away from the other groups of football players waiting in the gym for the team to fully assemble.

"Ya sure." We walked over, "What's on your mind, Bertier?"

"What's up with you and Cheryl. Before you say anything, she already told me about the other night."

"Oh, um. I'm sorry man. I, I don't know what happened, we were just... and then..." He was panicking.

"Dude, don't worry about it. I just want to make sure everything is ok."

"Ya. I guess." He wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Wanna hear a story?" He didn't respond, "Back in the Pee Wee league when Cheryl and I were on opposite teams, I tripped while running and knocked into her, before she put her pads on and she went face first into the fence. She got a bloody nose and all she did was turned and laughed at me." Julius offered a small smile, "Honestly, her dad makes a bigger deal out of her pain than she does. And when I told him today, he was worried about her ya, but he didn't blame you at all. So you can calm down."

"Thanks Superman. We better get on with this meeting."


	5. Chapter 5

"Come on! Come on! Just ten more yards! NO!"

"Sheryl!" My dad scolded walking into the den with the popcorn, "You were in the nurse's office all day for blacking out without reason. Calm down." He sat beside me, resting his arm on the back of the coach behind me. "So, what did I miss."

"Well! Number 46 got tackled by Number 7 and DROPPED THE BALL!"

They doorbell rang, "You wait here sweetie." Dad stood and kissed the top of my head before walking to the door.

I continued contemplating the game and the stupidness of some of the players. How could idiots like this be in the NFL? We had guys better than this on our high school team! I mean we had Gerry and Petey and Sunshine and Julius.

Julius. What was up with him? First he kisses me, saying he doesn't leave things unfinished. Then he ignores me. If that isn't unfinished, I don't know what is.

"Hey, Sheryl?" My dad called, "Are you in the mood for entertaining a guest?"

What could he possibly mean by that? "Um, ya I guess."

I heard a set of footfalls coming from the hallway towards me, and another moving away, presumably towards the kitchen.

"I figured the game would be on." A quiet voice came from the doorway behind me. I knew the voice, but I had to turn around and confirm it.

"Gerry? What are you doing here?" I asked, confused.

"I thought you might want a debriefing on your love life." He came and sat next to me, placing his arm around me.

"I have a love life now?" I asked, trying to avoid the awkwardness this conversation came with.

"Oh shut up. You and I both know that you do. After all, I come over here and tell you about Julius and then I go to practice or class or something and I give him a pep talk and then he asks me to come over here and find out..."

"I get it! I have a love life. A very complicated love life."

"And it's even more complicated since he's black..." I shot him a look.

"What! You know I have no problem with him! He's my best friend! But he isn't everybody's!" Neither of us thought while this sunk in.

"Doesn't mean he won't be." Said a voice from the doorway.

"Oh. Uh, hey coach. We were just talking about... um..." He tried to find a way out.

"Gerry, knock it off." My dad wasn't stupid, "Honey. If you and Julius want to be together, you should. Take it from someone who knows, love doesn't wait forever." Then he left.

"Gerry, what time is it?" I asked.

"Um..." He checked his watch, "Nine thirty."

"Wanna drive me somewhere?" I asked, keeping my fingers crossed.

"Where?"

"The burg." I smiled a small smile at him.

"Anywhere in particular?" He returned the smile.

"I think you know where. I'm taking that as a yes, by the way, let's go." I walked down the hallway into the front entrance, "Dad! Gerry and I are going out! We'll be back soon...ish."

I threw on a sweatshirt and a pair of sneakers as fast as I could, meanwhile, hopping towards Gerry's car pulling him with me.

"Am I dropping you off or...?" Gerry asked as we approached the all black neighborhood.

"I... Let's see how it goes." I trialed off, "You know which house it is right?"

"I don't think we need to..." Gerry said, pointing into a yard of one of the larger houses. One with a boy taking out the garbage.

Gerry slowly pulled up to the curb. I watched as Julius tensed up at the sight of the approaching car, then relaxed when he recognized the Camero.

"Superman!" Julius opened his arms when Gerry stepped out of the car.

"Actual, the correct term tonight is cab driver..." I took this as my cue to open my door.

"Hey Julius, I, um, I thought we should talk." His face froze when he saw me, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Ya, uh, sure. Gerry, if you want you could head home, I'll make sure she's taken care off." The boys shared a look before Gerry got in his car and drove off that led me to believe that that last part meant more.

Julius turned his back to me, opened the garbage can and hoisted the full black bag into it. I couldn't help but notice his arm muscles that were clearly visible in his tank top. He began to walk back up the path, leaving me at the curb. He turned at looked at me over his shoulder, "Well? You coming?" I could see his smile even in the dark as I hurried to catch up to him. When I was level with him, he turned to look at me, "Just a warning. It might be a little... hectic... inside."

"Please, I grew up around Ray and Gerry and the guys, hectic is normal." He smiled at me, nodding his head a little to the side in agreement.

Julius opened the door for me, allowing me to walk in first. The house was big for the burg, but on a normal scale, it barely met normal. The small living room we had walked into was beautiful. It had slightly worn hardwood flooring with cream walls. The couch and love seat were a light shade of blue. In the middle of all this were children.

There were four in total. A young girl, maybe 12, was lounging on the love seat, flipping through the channels on the television. Her hair was pulled up into a loose bun, which accented her shoulders that were visible in her yellow tank top. Her legs were stretched out in front of her on the coach, clad in her purpleish pink pajama pants.

The other four sat on the floor. The eldest of the group was a young boy, around age 8 maybe. He had on a set of pajamas portraying none other than superman. He was playing with several cars and trains, every once and a while picking them up and making whooshing noises.

The final two must have been twins, as they were seemed so similar in age. They were young, probably three at most, using their little play bench to support them on their unstable legs. The little girl had her hair pulled up into two little pigtails on the very top of her head. The boy's had a tuff of long hair spurting from his head, going every which way.

"Maddy, Derek, Emma, Peyton. This is Cheryl." Julius announced, the older two gave half-hearted waves while the younger two giggled and cooed at her. "Hey!" Julius barked. The older two turned to look, their eyes bugging a bit.

"Julius," The boy started, "You know she's white, right."

Julius smiled, "Ya, I know." He turned to me, "That's Peyton, he's nine. Maddy, she's thirteen. Moody, too." He grumbled the last part to himself. "That's Derek, and this little lady," he beant down to pick up the little girl who had crawled over to us, "is Emma. They are two. Twins."

"Julius! Do I hear you introducing people?" A woman appeared in the archway. "Hello dear, I'm Julius's mother, Hazel." The woman whipped her hands on her apron before offering me her hand to shake. "You just missed Julius's father, he's working the night shift tonight..."

"Mom." Julius cut her off, "Sorry, It's been a long day. Can Cheryl and I go up to my room?" He asked.

"It might be better if you go in the den since Peyton is going to bed right after I get the twins to sleep." She responded. "Maddy, go get Emma from Julius."

After Mrs. Campbell and Maddy disappeared up the stairs with the twins, Julius asked the other boy, "You're gonna behave until mom gets back right?"

"Are you?" The young boy gave him a sly look.

"Go to bed." Julius laughed leading me through double doors into a tiny room.

"You had to ask him if he was gonna behave?"

"You should've seen what he did at Rev's house. Lord, his mother almost lost her curtains." We laughed for a bit, but only for so long before it subsided into a quiet awkwardness.

"So, um, how do we do this?" He asked. We had sat on opposite sides of the little couch, facing in towards each other.

"Hey, I made the first step in coming over here. It's your turn now." I dodged the bullet.

"Well, I guess it comes down to whether or not we want to be together..." Silence, "Well do we want to be together?" I had never seen Julius Campbell so timid before.

"I don't know, do we?" I diverted the question.

"It's gonna be hard," he paused looking down at his hands, then up through his lashes, "but most things that are worth it are."

I felt a smile come to my lips and without intending to, I leaned across, closing the distance between us, my lips meeting his.

It was like nothing I had ever felt before. His touch, as his arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer, was strong, but soft. He was forceful but not in a scary way. I could kiss him forever, that is if it wasn't for the fact we needed to breath.

We pulled away from one another, panting slightly. I rested my forehead against the crook of his neck, he turned his head slightly, planting a soft kiss on my temple.

"What time is your dad expecting you home?" He asked.

"Soonish." I responded.

"From now or when you left?" He smiled warmly.

"Then."

"Well, considering it's almost eleven, I think its soonish. Come on."

We walked to his car, saying goodbye to his mother as we walked out. The ride home was quiet, with him holding my hand the entire way.

"Who are we gonna tell?" He asked, not taking his eyes away from the road.

"The football team, I think would be a nice start." I answered. Silence again.

"Julius. Why was it that you tensed up when Gerry's car came to the curb?" I asked quietly.

"It was nothing." He responded.

"Julius, please."

"At night, not even home is truly safe." We were at my house now, he looked around at the sight before him. The little farmhouse with warm yellow light streaming out of the windows was the quintessence of safety. "At least not in the burg."

"Oh. I'm - I'm sorry." I had no idea how to respond to that.

"Don't be. It's not your fault." He turned off the car, "I never really noticed until the younger kids were born. I just, I want the best for them, and now with the race mixing, well, I've actually thought about giving Peyton and Maddie pepper spray or something..."

"If you ever need anything, my dad and I would love to help." I said to which he offered a small smile and a thank you.

"It looks like your dad is getting a little impatient. He's passed by that window five times in the past minute." He laughed, getting out of the car.

He walked around the car and opened my door just as I was about to get out. I stood and offered him a smile "Well I do declare! What a perfect gentleman!"

"Ha ha ha. Very funny." He laughed, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, leading me to the door.

Neither of us had to open it since my dad threw it open, "Cheryl! What happened to Gerry? Why are you so late?"

"Sorry Coach. My fault. Gerry brought her over and we told him he could go home and that I would make sure she got home alright. We ended up losing track of time."

"I did say soonish..." I trailed off.

"Soonish implies half an hour, an hour at most." He said, smiling. "Julius, its getting late, your folks will be worried."

"Yes Sir." Julius gave my shoulders a gentle squeeze, "I'll see you tomorrow." With that he walked to his car and drove off.

"So, are you two..." My dad started.

"Uh..."


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N. **Heads up, there is a bit of a, questionable scene a little later in this chapter involving Ray. I just want to say, I do not intend to offend anyone, it's just that, well, Ray is an ass. You'll know it when you get to it, it starts once she stops him in the hallway. I'll recap it in an AN at the bottom for those of you who wish to skip it.

"So, are you two..." My dad started.

"Uh..." I feigned a yawn, "Dad, I'm really tired." I made for the stairs.

"Not so fast young lady." He reached out his arm, stopping me. "I let you out of the house with one teenage boy and then you return two hours later with a different teenage both. Not to mention they are both on my football team... Basically, I just want to know if I should be watching you and Julius while you are on the sidelines."

"We aren't sure really. Um, we are gonna do a test run type thing. Just tell the team and see how that goes."

"Good luck with that."

The next day, I woke up bright and early, ready to go to early practice with coach. I quickly dressed in the dark, throwing on a pair of jeans and a gray t-shirt with T.C. Williams written across it in maroon. I threw on a pair of sneakers before running downstairs to make breakfast for my father and I.

The sun was just rising when we arrived at the field, being greeted by Boone and a few of the team members. Gerry jogged over to me, throwing an arm around me.

"So, you and Julius? What happened?" I quickly recounted the events of the night to Gerry, "So you are together now."

"Ya we are." A pair of arms wrapped around my waist from behind, "Now, it is five in the morning, why are you not wearing clothing?"

"I am to wearing clothing! See!" I pulled the hem of my shirt out.

"Put this on. I don't need you freezing." Julius shrugged out of his signature black leather jacket. He allowed enough space between the two of us for him to wrap it around my shoulders. "There." He smiled, nuzzling his nose into my neck.

"Well, before I barf, Julius, we gotta go get ready." Gerry said to my boyfriend over my shoulder.

"Fine." He planted a light kiss on my cheek before unwrapping me from his arms, "Keep the jacket on." Then the two were gone.

I walked around the field while all the men were in the locker room, taking in the dew on the grass and the feel of light moisture floating around in the air. Tonight the boys had their third game. The coaches figured that giving the guys a morning practice, therefore freeing up their time in the afternoon.

"So now you're wearing the animal's jacket?" I hadn't heard Ray come up beside me, but he was here now.

"Ya. I am wearing _Julius's _jacket." I said curtly, "Aren't you supposed to be in the locker room with the rest of the team?"

"I ditched once Coach Coone started giving his pep talks. But enlighten me, why _him_ over _me._ I come from a great family with money in the bank and a house with rooms to spare, he shares a room with his kid brother while his daddy works nights."

"Wanna know why, you pompous ass?" I spun on him. Just now realizing the rest of the team was out of the locker room now and staring at us, "He isn't an ass! He doesn't ditch a girl in the woods at midnight! He doesn't expect the world to be handed to him on a silver platter. And most importantly, he isn't a racist jerk!" I walked back towards the stands, where the entire team was watching, and into the girls locker room.

I don't know why it was there, off of a football field, but it was and I was glad for it. The guys couldn't come in. The only reason I was allowed to make the occasional appearance in the boys locker room was 'cause my daddy was the coach and his office was located inside.

"Hey." An unfamiliar voice came from the entranceway. "Your dad sent me in here. He was worried." It was Sunshine.

"So they sent _you_ in here?"

"Wow. Venomous much?" He feigned a look of hurt. I shrugged, "They are running defense now, so your boys are both occupied. Is everything ok?"

"Considering Ray just essentially attacked my boyfriend in front of everyone, just dandy." I bit out sarcastically.

"So not to great." He smiled. I grimaced back. "Listen." He sat on the bench beside me, "I'm not gonna pretend that I know how you are feeling, wow, never thought I'd say that, anyway, I never had the issue of dating a black chick during an integration. I've dated a black girl, but California is rather relaxed about race. Sure it matters, but, no where near as much."

"So you would date a black girl?" I could help but think of Nicky and her wonderings regarding the back up QB.

"Ya. Why not?" He shrugged it off, "But you know, it would mean a lot to Julius if you came out. He's kinda sucking since his head isn't in the game."

"Fine." We both stood, "Can you just answer me one question? I'm really confused, are you gay? Or are you straight? Or? Like, I honestly don't care, but I'm just really confused."

"Sweets, I am not gay. Trust me." He winked at me and threw his arm around my shoulder and led me outside.

"So, class is out, I don't have practice, you wanna go do something?" Julius asked, leaning against the locker beside mine.

"Ya, sure. Where are we gonna go?" I asked reaching up on my tip toes to reach the top shelf of my locker.

"Here, Shorty." Julius took the book from my hand and tucked it into place with ease.

"Thanks." I scowled at him.

"Not a problem." He smiled at me. "Well, to be honest, Maddie want to meet you."

"She already met me!" I laughed, "Did someone hit you a little too hard in practice today?"

"No! She says that meeting you thinking you were a one night stand is different than as a girlfriend." It was the first time he used the actual title.

"You have a lot of those? One night stands I mean?" I asked, trying to sound indifferent.

"Nah, I leave that to Petey..." He laughed.

"Little Petey? He has a baby doll face!"

"That's what he wants you to think!" The two of us laughed.

"Ok, let's go. We'll go see her." I closed my locker door.

"She gets out of school in ten, twenty minutes. Let's go." We made for the exit, me contemplating my new task of wooing the little sister.

My meeting with Maddy went better than planned, she reminded me of the little sister I never had. She was like no girl I had ever met before, she had a certain quality to her that made me feel like I need to be around her, it's the same quality Julius possesses. The meeting went so well that I had no problem "babysitting" her, as Julius put it, during the game.

The Groveton Lions were already on the field, warming up, trying to intimidate us. How do our boys respond to this? They dance. The entire team clusters into a tight knit box, doing a little skip as they advance along with some arm movements. I couldn't help but notice that a few hands, when they came up, particularly in the middle of the cluster, were sporting raised middle fingers.

I point Julius out to Maddy and she finds him easily, in the front row between Petey and Gerry. They are all doing the same dance, but each, at least of those in the front row, have their own version. Petey, forever playful, is really getting into it, throwing his hands up and down. Julius, less into it, but putting in the effort for the team ends up hopping a little to the side each time. Gerry is doing the best he can, not really hopping, more like springing, but his feet never leave the ground. Alan is very into it, moving his head to the rhythm and everything. Blue doesn't jump, instead he skips in a way, enjoying the music, I guess. Sunshine, just walks, only doing the arm motions; I guess that, since half the school thinks he's gay, it be best not to give them something to fuel the fire with. Either way the cheerleaders look taken aback when upstaged by their football jocks. "Oo! I feel good!" The boys chant.

"Julius's playing strong side linebacker!" I explain to Maddy, too swept away in my enthusiasm to hear her calling my name. "He's so good, he's got All-American written all over her. And Gerry Bertier..."

"Cheryl!" Here desperate call breaks through the football haze and I stop talking, "I. Do. Not. Care."

The boys start the main part of their dance now. "Five. Six. Five. Six. Seven. Eight." One of them calls out, but its too loud and too far away to make out exactly who. I'd bet it was Blue. "Ev'ry where we go-o. Ev'ry where we go-o. People wanna kno-ow. People wanna kno-ow. Who we a-are. Who we a-are. So we tell them. So we tell them. We are the Titans. We are the Titans. The mighty mighty Titans. The mighty mighty Titans. Oo, Ah, Oh Yeah. Oo, Ah, Oh Yeah." They go on and on.

The boys played a good game, and won, but not without losing. During the very first play of the game, Kip Tyler, number 48 blew right by Ray, who seemed to not even attempt to hold him, and crushed Rev, shattering a bone in his wrist. I was positive Ray wanted this, he seemed just too concerned over Rev's wrist. I think Boone suspected it too, but he let it drop.

Sunshine went in, and I could tell he wasn't all too sure of himself, but he had to be. I saw him look up at the stands right before breaking from the huddle. I watch his eye and follow their gaze, right to Nicky, who waves at him, causing a ghost of a smile on his lips which somehow I can see. I watch as 48 blows right by Lastik. Sunshine takes quick steps back, not knowing of the oncoming mass. He turns, throws the ball hard and far. Just as Kip is about to reach him, Sunshine ducks down, bending at the waist and slightly at the knees. Kip rolls onto his back and Sunshine stands up, looking down at his prey. Another of Kip's teammates is so taken aback by this feat that he slows to stand by Sunshine, not even trying to tackle him, in fact, he lets Sunshine half heartedly push him away. This gives the boys hope, with Kip Tyler out of the picture, they easily win, even with Sunshine doing a bit of show-boating on the field.

I walk Maddy to her mom's car who is waiting for her at the curb. After watching them drive away, I walk back into the gym standing against a wall, wanting to surprise Julius. Gerry is standing beside the doors, obviously waiting for someone. Too bad he wasn't getting Julius tonight; tonight he's mine. He stops Ray and they talk for a bit, it's obvious that Ray is angry. Ray walks away, a grimace on his face, right towards me. I follow him out, needing to know what happened. I stop him in the hallway just far enough that we can't be heard from inside the gym.

"Ray?" He turns, and boy was I glad looks couldn't kill, "What happened?"

"Like you don't know! You bitch! You animal loving bitch!" He had me pinned to a locker now by my neck. I could feel my airways being crushed. He seems to ponder something, "You'll have to do." He presses his body to mine, driving any air I had out of me, and crash his lips onto mine. I struggle and struggle. "Filthy little animal slut." He backs away slightly. He spits, his saliva landing on his cheek, "You don't even deserve that." He jerks my head forward and then back, right into the locker. And then I'm gone.

**A.N.** So basically Ray acts like the ass he is and knocks Cheryl out. Wow. I could've just written that instead of the last paragraph. Huh.


	7. Chapter 7

"Why is it that every time I get hurt, I wake up to you?" My eyes had just opened and rested on Julius, once again in a hideous green chair.

"Thank God." His voice was breathless. He crossed the room in two strides, grabbing my face with both of his hands, one on either side and crashed his lips to mine. They moved with an urgency, a strength I hadn't felt in them before.

"I thought I lost you." He said, ending the kiss, but not moving away.

"Why? How long have I been out?" I asked, confused. To be entriely honest I could barely remember why I was in here. All I remembered was the game and the boys special warm up, waiting for Julius and Gerry and then Ray getting kicked off the team and... Ray! "He... he could've killed me."

"You were out for almost a week. But he hasn't woken up yet." Julius's eyes were hard.

"Wait. He hasn't woke up yet? But, he didn't get hit." Did my mind leave something out?

"When Gerry and I found you," he paused, seemingly planning something, "Ray, he um, he was working on your buckle..."

I processed what he had just said for a moment. Puzzling over his phrasing. _Working on your buckle?_ I don't have any buckles. Except for my... my belt. I stared up at Julius "He... he was going to rape me?"

"I, I think so." We were silent.

"Thank you. For saving me." He didn't answer verbally, but took one of my hands in his two. The small parts of my skin visible through his much larger hands, which almost completely enclosed mine, resembled the moon and the stars shining through the blackest night. The contrast was beautiful.

I was released from the hospital three days later. After being monitored 24/7, I was ready to just go crazy and it was perfect timing too, since the Titans had officially made it to the semi-finals of States and Alan was documenting every moment of it.

One day, Sunshine tried to teach Big Blue Ti Chi. It was amusing watching the thin Californian move so gracefully through the movements and then observe as Big Blue attempted to copy the motions. Sometimes he almost succeeded, almost.

Another day was Petey's birthday and decided to celebrate right before school. We all chipped in to buy him a nice big birthday cake, which Julius promptly shoved in his face. Later on in the party, Petey unwrapped presents, one of which was my duck-tape covered football with the words "DON'T DROP ME" written on the side in black sharpie. This got a round of laughs.

Later that day, Petey was slacking off in practice. I started yelling, but it wasn't until I actually started to physically go after him that there was any noticeable improvement. Suddenly it was touchdown after touchdown, which led to a round of jokes about manliness at Petey's expense.

That Friday, the guys organized a car smash. Each of the boys took their turns. Julius and Gerry went up together, walking with what Julius called "swag." I was jumping and clapping on the sidelines when Julius grabbed onto my hands pulling me into the loop. Gerry handed me the mallet. I tried to hand it back, but they wouldn't take it. Julius walked up behind me and helped me strike the car directly on the hood. I giggled, for maybe the first time in this life, and turned, wrapping my arms around him. His arms snaked around me and our lips met.

Flag after flag rose into the air. Fouls upon fouls. This game was rigged. I could see our boys getting frustrated. I yelled and jumped but nothing changed, until my dad walked onto the field and had a hushed conversation with one of the refs. All of a sudden he had a new attitude. The boys huddled around them, but Petey soon left the huddle. I ran down the bleacher stairs. I needed to be with the team, I was a part of that team. I was about to jump onto the field when a pair of arms enclosed me.

"Kiss me now, or else the animal gets shot." I felt the gun in the front pocket. The cold hard metal was pressed up against the small of my back. I knew who it was, so I didn't doubt the danger. I turned and kissed Ray with all I had.

Obviously no one had told anyone about Ray's assault and attempt of rape towards me, because if someone had, I would not be in this situation. In the situation no girl should ever be in. In a situation where they had to watch their boyfriend jog out of a game where they are _finally_ getting ahead, look up into the stands and see their girlfriend kissing the _man_, if you can call Ray that, that abused them. Little did he know it was for him that I was betraying him. I kissed him for Julius, because I knew that padding that protected him from two hundred pounds of flesh wouldn't protect him from the bullet Ray would for certain send his way.

Julius's expression turned cold and heartless. He sat on the bench his back to me. "You sit right here. Understand." Ray commanded. I followed his instructions, after all Julius was closer and now with out a helmet. Ray's arm snaked around my waist. An action Julius had committed hundreds of times, but never once had it felt like this one. Never once had it felt wrong.

* * *

><p>"Julius!" I ran into the locker room after the team, "Julius!" He stopped, but only for a moment before moving on.<p>

"Sheryl. I need to talk to you." It was my dad.

He pulled me into a deserted part of the bleachers and explained to me how the Hall of Fame officials had fixed the game to assure my daddy would be head coach again. He went on about how it was unfair and how he had to speak up even though he lost the hall of fame. I expressed my irritation with the Hall, but other than that, my mind was occupied.

Even with my boyfriend hating me, it wasn't until we got the phone call that I truly went numb.


	8. Chapter 8

"Where is he?" I slammed my hands on the desk, startling the nurse on duty, "Where is he!" My voice was laced with hysteria.

"You must excuse her Nurse... Ethel." Petey read her name tag, "She's had a rough night, I'm just gonna take her back to the Campbell-Berteir room." Petey guided me around the desk without giving the nurse a chance to respond.

We took a left, then a right, then another left. He stopped me outside a closed door with two little charts secured to the wall beside it. "I'm gonna give you time alone with them."

"Petey? How, how bad are they?" I whispered, it was all I could muster.

"Julius is ok, minor scrapes and bruises, small concussion." He paused, "Gerry took the brunt of the impact. He's paralyzed from the waist down. He's unconscious still."

I felt like I had been hit by the same truck that had hit my boys as they were setting out on their joy ride. I slowly eased my way into the room, closing the door behind me.

"He doesn't want to see you." I jumped. I hadn't anticipated a voice so strong, much less a female voice. I turned to see Maddie sitting in one of those horribly colored green chairs beside her brother's bed.

"You don't understand! Hell, he doesn't understand! There were certain circumstances!" I cried out to her, I'm sure I have hit a million tears in the past hour.

"Like what? That the cracker is rich? Or that he's popular? Or is it simply that he's a cracker?" She spat out rising to her feet.

"No." I yelled though my hysteria.

"Then what was it then? I'm just _dying_ to know." She rolled her eyes.

"He had a gun and a clear shot to Julius's head." She obviously was not expecting these words to leave my mouth in a whisper.

"Wha-what?" She sunk back into her seat.

"I was going down to be with the team and Ray grabbed me and force the gun against my back, threatening to kill Julius if I didn't kiss him." I whispered.

"You expect me to believe that?" She yelled back on her feet. "Please! How would he have gotten a gun! That's just too convenient, too planned almost! It would never happen in real life, so I suggest you go take that _gun_ and shove it up your -"

"Maddie. I want to talk to her." Julius's eyes had fluttered open somewhere in the argument.

"But, she-"

"Leave. Now." The girl shot me a nasty look before she huffed out of the room.

There was an awkward silence, something that had never occurred between the two of us before. I shuffled my feet a bit as he stared at me with a cold gaze.

"Is what you said true?" He broke the silence after what felt like an eternity.

"Yes." My voice cracked.

"Alright then. Come here." He held open his arms for me and I ran to the bed, climbing in beside him on top of the covers.

"Why do you believe me?" I asked, resting my head on his chest. _He was ok. Julius was ok._

"Because Gerry told me about the gun when Ray was kicked of the team and assaulted you. He told me you were lucky, since Ray always had a gun nearby. No one knows where he got it, but Gerry says he's seen it."

"I'm sorry. I would never have... you know... if there was any other way."

"I know. I know."

* * *

><p>"Yoast. Where are they?" My daddy demanded as we burst through the waiting room doors. Coach Yoast stood from his place beside Gerry's mother.<p>

"They're in the back. Sheryl is in there with 'em." He informed.

"How long has she been in there?" He asked.

"A while."

"If I go break in up, will I face the wrath of Sheryl Yoast?"

"Probably."

"Well, imma do it anyway." My daddy disappeared.

Minutes passed and then hours. I sat beside a tear-ridden Sheryl, trying to sooth her in anyway I could. The boys started to drift away, one by one or occasionally in small pairs. Our dads were with the boys in their room, upon their request, their own families having long since left in order to grieve in peace.

"Do you two want rides home?" It was Sunshine, the last one left. I found this odd since he was probably the one who knew the boys the least, having just came from California.

"Um..." Sheryl looked around the nearly empty room, "Ya, let me just go tell the nurse." She walked over to the nurses stall and assumably told the nurse of our changed plans. She walked back to us, wrapping Julius's jacket tighter around her small frame. "Let's go."

"Think she'll be ok?" I asked Sunshine as he walked me to my front door.

"Who Sheryl?" We paused at my front door, "She'll be fine. She's strong."

I turned and unlocked the door, knowing my mom had taken my little sister to see our grandparents, not knowing of the tragedy that would occur. "Sunshine," I bit my lip, uncertain of myself, "Could you, um, stay? At least until my dad gets back?"

"Of course." He gestured for me to go inside following closely behind.


	9. Chapter 9

**A.N.** Little bit of racism here, but it truly isn't me, I blame Ray.

The night was calm. The sky was black with little pinpricks for stars scattered throughout. There was a slight breeze as I sat at the base of the old tree, among the tall swaying grass. Nothing about the night reflected what had just happened. Nothing about this night reflected what was to come.

"Ok, now, your turn. Truth or dare?" Sunshine asked leaning back, studying me.

"Hm. Dare." I answered tentitivly.

He smiled, mischievously, "Kiss me." And I did.

A week later, both boys were released from the hospital. Julius would be able to play in the championship by some miracle, Gerry, for obvious reasons could not, but he was able to sit on the bench with me and cheer on his teammates, which was exactly what happened come game day.

The boys were ready. They had danced out on the field and ran through a couple drills. The boys could win this, they just had to believe they could. They had Julius, they had Sunshine, they had anyone they could need. They could win, if they believed in themselves, and in soul power.

The boys lined up along the 50 yard line, ready to face the unstoppable Ed Henry's team. He was unstoppable, but so were we. The downs flashed by. The boys knew what they were doing, but they couldn't do it. Alan, as much as I love him, was no Petey, he wasn't fast enough to do any good. By some miracle, we were only down by seven come halftime, just one touchdown, but that might be enough to lose.

I left Gerry on the bench, he's a big boy and he's got his chair. I ran after my daddy, "Coach!"

"Sheryl, go back outside, you can't come in here."

"I always do, but that's besides the point." I rushed though my sentence, "Ed Henry's got Boone's number, sure shooting. You ain't doing nothing against that shot gun." I paused, looking him right in the eye, "Look coach, now ain't the time to be proud."

"Hey, you're doing great! Don't worry, just..." I grabbed a hold of Ronnie before he entered the locker room, pulling him off to the side.

"Now where did you come from?" He smiled, wrapping his arms around me.

"The stands." I answered briskly, "Just, go play some ball." I had no idea what to say with football.

"I'm pretty sure that's typically baseball, but will do." He leaned down and kissed me before jogging off to catch up to his team.

"You and I dear, need to have a conversation."

Now, Sheryl Yoast wasn't my favorite person in the world, but she was one of the only people who understand what I'm going through. Our daddies are both coaches of the sole integrated team in Virginia, where football is life. We are the only two girls in an interracial relationship, though no one knew about mine yet. Sheryl Yoast wasn't my best friend by any standards. She was my sister; we just understood each other in a way no one else could even hope to. That being said, it didn't surprise me when I spent the entire halftime ignoring the cheerleaders and telling the blonde everything there was to tell about my short, but strong, relationship with the Californian dreamboat.

The team came out of the locker room five minutes before they had to, gathering into a huddle, but not before Nicky and I squeezed into the middle among all the guys and behind our dads, right next to our boys. I took Julius's hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. He tore his eyes away from Boone for only a moment, but that was long enough to give me a reassuring smile. We were gonna win, he was sure of it.

The game began, with extra boys playing on defense and no Alan. Suddenly, the reason for Alan's disapearence became known, in the form of a freight train slamming into a sign or something f the sort. Petey was in and he was destroying.

Just having Petey in seemed to be enough to give the team hope. Julius took out the quarter back, just before he threw the ball. Sunshine got an interception, then took a mean tackle.

The score was 7-3, but even those few points were enough to give the team hope. They joked and laughed on the sidelines and played their hearts out on the field. There was only a few minutes left and we were on defense, so you could only imagine the rush of joy I got when it was Julius, coming from behind that caused a change in possession. Of course Petey had something to do with it, seeing as he finally learned how to hold the ball, but he wasn't my boyfriend so I didn't pay too much attention to that.

We had time for one more play. I heard Boone give the direction, but I had no idea what it meant, and Rev taking the field only confused me further. Sunshine got the ball and handed it of to Rav who cut to the right. The two quarterbacks ran like their lives depended on it down the sideline, Rev with the ball and Sunshine blocking anyone that tried to stop them. They ran and ran and they made it. We had won.

I flew up from the bench, dragging Nicky with me. We jumped and screamed before following our dads out to great the boys. I ran straight to Julius who hoisted me into the air. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs latched around his hips. We didn't kiss, but he spun me 'round and around.

I heard the boys laughing and whooping before I saw it. Julius stopped the spinning in time for us both to see Nicky and Sunshine wrapped around each other in an intense lip lock.

"Did you know about..." Julius asked, one arm around my waist, the other gesturing to the couple.

"Not until halftime." I giggled, spinning into him and kissing him straight on the lips.

Eventually everyone calmed down and proceeded back to the bench, Julius still had his arm around my waist, he refused to let go, saying I was good luck since it was me who convince my dad to take Boone' advice or something like that.

"Hey! Monkey!" Ray's voice came from the side. We both turned in time to se the gun held high, aimed directly at us.

Football reflexes allowed Julius to push me out of the way, but not himself. But he didn't need to; someone else's football reflexes were faster. Gerry. Somehow, someway, Gerry had propelled himself from his wheel chair, directly into the gun's path, taking the bullet himself.

Guards were on Ray in a flash, but that didn't matter to me. I was at Gerry's side as fast as I could.

"Gerry! You ass! How cold you do that!" I cried out, clutching at his stomach trying to make the bleeding stop. Julius was beside us in a minute, having removed his uniform with hopes of stopping the blood.

"Please," Gerry laughed with a slight cough, "I'm already half dead."

"Man, no you're not." Julius spoke, his voice cracking a bit.

"Just take care of her for me ok?" Gerry looked directly at Julius and the boys seemed to have an unspoken understanding. "Left side," Gerry raised his hand.

"Strong side." Julius clasped it with his own.

Gerry turned his head to look at me, "Sheryl, you will survive. Be strong, we both know you are."

I watched as the lighter hand's grip slacked. My body was wracked by sobs. Someone was screaming, I just didn't notice it was me. Arms wrapped around me, pulling me away from my big brother. "NO!" I screamed, squirming in the arms, "NO!" I had to get to Gerry.

"Sheryl." The voice came through my hysteria. It was calm and comforting. For the first time in I don't know how long I actually saw something and was able to process it, Julius, "Come here." He pulled me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me, tighter than ever.

He was being strong for me. Julius wasn't stupid, he knew Gerry took the bullet for him, and that had to be eating him up inside. I had to be strong for Julius, for Gerry.

I pulled my arms from between our chests and wrapped them around his neck, "Let's go to the locker room or something." I stood, leading him into the building.

We sat down on one of the long benches. I stared at him, trying to suppress my tears, but I couldn't do so as much as I wished I could. I don't know how Julius was doing it, "Julius, please." And then a single tear fell from his left eye. I smiled at him before whisking it away. He pulled me into him once again, holding me against him and burying his face in my hair.

"I love you Sheryl." He spoke though the silence some time later. We shared a soft kiss, both of our faces tear streaked. "Wait here." He stood, walking down another hall of lockers. When he returned he was holding something, "I know, you are just a freshman and all, but I want to ask you something." He paused, "Gerry and I had talked about it right before the game." Another pause, "Would you agree, to agree to marry me?" He asked, holding out his class ring all juniors had just received.

This was what Gerry meant. This is what their silent conversation was about. "Yes." I threw my arms around him catching his lips with mine.

Ten years later, on the same day Gerry Bertier died, Julius and I were married, on the T.C. Williams football field. The goal posts were decorated with flowers and chairs were moved into the end zone for guests. The entire team was there. What really made the day special was that Gerry was there. One of the boys had taken a picture of Gerry and posted it on a chair. The day was perfect, both for marriage and for remembering him.


End file.
